# Germs/parasites that roadkill (in America) would be most likely to have **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547 "2018-07-09T02:45:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547/1 "2018-07-09T02:45:28Z")
Say the usual dead opossums, skunks, deer, etc. What sort of germs/parasites are they likely to carry? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547/2 "2018-07-09T02:49:47Z")
Late edit: In forensics, for instance, isn’t there some investigation process that can determine time of death of something by different time stages, such as which germs and parasites are likely to appear by Day 2, 4, 6? etc. Or 1 hour, 4 hours, 7 hours? ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547/3 "2018-07-09T02:55:02Z")
Armadillo would have the plague Rabies is a possibility in other road kill. Now viable it would be post mortem i dont know ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547/4 "2018-07-09T02:56:34Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > Armadillo would have the plague > Rabies is a possibility in other road kill. > > Now viable it would be post mortem i dont know Plague? Or leprosy? I know 1/3 of armadillos in the Texas area, for instance, have leprosy or some figure of that sort. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547/5 "2018-07-09T03:27:49Z")
Yea, I heard leprosy. I think some marsupials ( possums ) have papilloma or chlamydia virus. Not to mention your regular old nasty gunk that would make you sick. I say it aint worth it to touch or kick around. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547/6 "2018-07-09T03:54:37Z")
300 moose a year get hit by vehicles on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. Half the meat goes to food banks, half is kept by the person called to butcher it. There is a waiting list for roadkill moose. ---
**Author:** ![SOJA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SOJA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SOJA)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547/7 "2018-07-09T04:11:01Z")
Moose are likely to be fairly clean apart from ticks. I’m not sure if lyme disease can be transferred to meat as opposed to bites. Marsupials, such as possums, if I’m not mistaken, feed on dead things. So the meat even without disease is not something you’d want to consume. I was floored as kid when I learned some people actually eat those things. I mean, they eat snapping turtle in Florida. I guess I shouldn’t be too shocked. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547/8 "2018-07-09T04:24:23Z")
> [@SOJA](#): > > Marsupials, such as possums, if I’m not mistaken, feed on dead things. So the meat even without disease is not something you’d want to consume. Irrelevant to whether the meat is fit to eat. Wild pigs and crabs eat carrion and are popular for food. ---
**Author:** ![SOJA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SOJA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SOJA)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547/9 "2018-07-09T04:33:54Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Irrelevant to whether the meat is fit to eat. Wild pigs and crabs eat carrion and are popular for food. The concept behind purging possum is to rid it of the strong flavor its meat may acquire by eating carrion. Even fish eat dead things but they don’t take on the flavor of what they eat. Wild pig either tastes sweet or lake-y like a big catfish that tastes nasty versus a smaller catfish. To my knowledge, possums are one of few animals that strongly take on the flavors of whatever they eat. Disease may be a cofactor. I’ve never heard of purging any other animal other than possum. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547/10 "2018-07-09T05:36:45Z")
> [@SOJA](#): > > The concept behind purging possum is to rid it of the strong flavor its meat may acquire by eating carrion. Even fish eat dead things but they don’t take on the flavor of what they eat. Wild pig either tastes sweet or lake-y like a big catfish that tastes nasty versus a smaller catfish. To my knowledge, possums are one of few animals that strongly take on the flavors of whatever they eat. Disease may be a cofactor. I’ve never heard of purging any other animal other than possum. The old “Joy of Cooking” book says, “If possible, trap possum and feed on milk and cereals for 10 days before killing” and one commentator said, “Unless your wife and kids decide to make a pet of it.” I’ve heard of fasting escargot and other animals that are eaten whole, so people will not eat the bowel contents, i.e. poop. Sometimes small shrimp are “clean”, others aren’t. I also read that back in the days of locust invasions, people couldn’t eat the meat or eggs of fowl that had gorged themselves on those tasty (to them) morsels, because they smelled and tasted just like the locusts. Regarding bacterial colonizations, I don’t think Lyme disease can be transmitted through meat, only through the bite of certain species of ticks. Animals would also have E. coli and other intestinal flora, just like we do, and the Body Farm and other researchers have done plenty of research on maggots and time of death, along with other complicating factors. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547/11 "2018-07-09T05:47:40Z")
Coons and possums are eaten regularly in Arkansas. Not by me. I wouldn’t eat snails or horsemeat either. Just how I roll. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547/12 "2018-07-09T07:29:25Z")
> [@SOJA](#): > > \*\* Even fish eat dead things but they don’t take on the flavor of what they eat.\*\* Wild pig either tastes sweet or lake-y like a big catfish that tastes nasty versus a smaller catfish. To my knowledge, possums are one of few animals that strongly take on the flavors of whatever they eat. Disease may be a cofactor. I’ve never heard of purging any other animal other than possum. Actually, yes they do. The flavor of a wild salmon versus a farmed one fed a steady diet of the same thing will taste different. And fish like tilefish that feed on crustaceans have a more minerally flavor than other fish. As for pigs, if you’ve ever had good prosciutto or serrano ham, those pigs are fed mostly acorns, and you can taste the nuttiness in the meat. Ditto wine. Wines take on secondary flavors from the minerals in the soil the vines are grown in. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2018, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547/13 "2018-07-09T07:44:50Z")
I have hit several deer. Mr.Wrekker always calls the game warden. They come pick it up and donate it, if it’s a clean kill. At this time there us a wasting disease in deer around here. They recommend testing if the deer is really thin. We threw away a whole carcass last deer season that tested positive. Not that I cared, I hate venison with a purple passion. I have cooked so much of that crap And the deer are actively trying to kill me by jumping in the road when I drive by. If they went extinct tomarrow it would suit me fine. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547/14 "2018-07-10T03:35:12Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Coons and possums are eaten regularly in Arkansas. Not by me. I wouldn’t eat snails or horsemeat either. Just how I roll. I wouldn’t have a problem with any of these, except maybe for the snails, as long as I knew what I was eating. I used to work with a woman whose husband hunted raccoons and sold the pelts; they didn’t like the meat, nor did they know anyone else who did, so they fed it to their dogs, who loved it. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/germs-parasites-that-roadkill-in-america-would-be-most-likely-to-have/817547/15 "2018-07-10T20:07:15Z")
Pretty much every wild animal will have worms I’d imagine.